Lenox — By Sunday morning, the Shed stage had been restored to its proper shape and size, having been extended for the Boston Pops’ presentation of “Ragtime: The Symphonic Concert” on the previous evening, Saturday, July 8.
And the verdict was in: The orchestra, conductor Keith Lockhart, principal cast, and chorus absolutely killed it, in partnership with a supportive crowd that lifted the excitement over the top.
Shortly before the playwright passed away in 2020 (the same year George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minn.), Terrence McNally, along with composer Stephen Flaherty and lyricist Lynn Ahrens, crafted a concert version of the musical to be premiered that year in celebration of Keith Lockhart’s 25th anniversary with the Boston Pops. But the pandemic pushed the premiere into 2023. So you could say there was some pent-up demand for this show.
Others will write lengthy reviews of the musical performance on July 8, but I shall give you one here in a nutshell: The performance could hardly have been at a higher level.
Few are surprised when the Boston Pops Orchestra delivers performances of breathtaking verve and precision, but vocal soloists are another matter, and fans of this particular musical know what they are listening for: the kinds of performances that win Tony awards. And when they got vocals of that quality from the “Ragtime” cast on Saturday night, the grateful men and women filling the Koussevitzky Music Shed expressed their approval throughout the performance in no uncertain terms.
In fact, they went completely nuts. They shouted. They whistled. They wept. And everyone on stage could feel the energy. Musicians and fans had, together, achieved a kind of critical mass that kept the momentum well fueled until the very last measure.
But such scenes are commonplace at Taylor Swift concerts, right?
They might appear to be, but they are not. Because the scene at Tanglewood had nothing to do with idolized celebrities or hot divas and everything to do with the aspirations of marginalized Americans yearning to breathe free and hoping for the opportunity to pursue their dreams without getting murdered by white supremacists, religious fanatics, or would-be dictators. In other words, Saturday evening’s performance was a large-scale celebration of diversity, inclusion, and unity by several thousand like-minded Americans who came to receive a musical performance from the Boston Pops but ended up giving an inspiring performance of their own. And it was profoundly uplifting.
Long-time Boston Pops collaborator and “Ragtime” Director Jason Danieley wrote in the program book, “The baseball song ‘What a Game’ is full of ethnic slurs toward the Irish, the Jewish, Germans, Italians … no one comes out unscathed. The ironic humor is in the juxtaposition of “the great American pastime,” baseball, and another unfortunate American pastime, bigotry. It’s there to illustrate one of the major social diseases we have in the the U.S.”
Lynn Ahrens noted that, although the “Ragtime” story is set at the turn of the century, “the musical itself has continued to remain relevant, always reflecting current events in an uncanny way, as Americans continue even now to fight for their rights, their dignity, and their dreams.”
Thousands of Tanglewood patrons on July 8 were proud to call the Boston Pops “America’s Orchestra,” proud to make common cause with fellow citizens who demand social and racial justice, and proud to play a part in an expression of hope for the future of America.
